I’m probably one of the few people in town who don’t have an automatic water sprinkler for my front lawn. Going out on early morning walks has taught me that lots of residents have sprinklers. (My route varies from day to day so I’m not just seeing the same sprinklers over and over again). From the hours of 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. sprinklers are watering the lawns (and sidewalks) of plenty of people, which is why I often end up walking along the shoulder of the street. Many of those people who don’t have the automatic sprinklers have the old-fashioned ones, the ones that kids still love to run through on a hot summer day. They don’t necessarily go off early in the morning, but are there and keep the front yards nice and green.
My lawn, on the other hand, is horribly brown and burnt out. I’ve tried in the past to get the sprinkler up and going, but it never seems to work out for me. And to be quite honest, this year I just plain forgot to set out the thing. And since we’ve gotten very little rain this summer, my lawn is a mess. (And probably the bane of my neighbors…sorry guys!)
Also as a result of my morning walks, and my drive to work through the town and surrounding neighborhoods, I’ve noticed that the leaves are already starting to turn color and fall to the ground. I love to see the changing colors. It’s what makes autumn my favorite time of year. But I started to notice this back at the end of August. As much as I love the autumn, the end of August and even early September seems a bit early for falling leaves. (Just like a love Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I hate to see the stores selling these holidays before autumn officially begins.)
Doing a little bit of reading/research I’ve found that these two things are tied together. Burned out lawns and falling leaves are the result of the lack of rain we’ve had here in New Jersey this summer. Though the Department of Environmental Protection issued a drought watch for our area on Wednesday, we are in much better shape than they are on the west coast. Because we live in what is generally a part of the world where we don’t have a water issue we tend to forget what a precious resource this is.
As much as I love sunny days (and who doesn’t?), I found myself wishing for rain the other day. I know we got a good soaking a few days back, but that was hardly enough to make up for what we lacked since June. The clouds came and we did get some rain, but certainly not what I had been expecting and even hoping for.
Since the weather is still unpredictable (no matter what the Weather Channel might tell us), it can’t hurt to try and conserve water. We all know the simple little things that can help us save water. Turning off the water when brushing our teeth. Not running the washing machine or dishwasher until the load is full. There are plenty of others: Just Google “Conserving Water” and you’ll see what I mean.
While we are blessed with sunny skies, let’s not forget that we should also be grateful for rainy days. When those days are few and far between, the lawns turn brownish and the leaves start to change color way too early in the season, let’s remember how precious a resource water really is and take the simple steps to help preserve it. And if a sudden monsoon or hurricane pops up; you can blame it all on me.
Beth Shorten is a life-long resident of Verona. You can read more of her writing on her personal site, Bfth’s Boring Blog.
